The Brainy Moms

ADHD Awareness Month is a good time to share ADHD resources, but if you’re a woman with ADHD, you don’t need a special month to bring awareness to your own daily struggles. On this episode of The Brainy Moms Podcast, Dr. Amy is joined again by Dr. Kelly Cagle, a parenting educator, ADHD researcher, homeschooling mom of three, host of the Parenting IQ podcast, and author for an honest conversation about what ADHD can look like in women. Dr. Amy and Dr. Kelly are both ADHD moms and moms with ADHD themselves. And they share honest and vulnerable examples of their own adult ADHD struggles on this episode. And also some ways they've learned to live with adult ADHD in a way that builds peace instead of piling on shame. 

They dig into time blindness and why “I’ll just squeeze that in” so often backfires, plus the practical fix of tracking how long tasks actually take. They also talk about procrastination that comes from boredom and the kind that comes from perfection and fear, where even just starting feels risky. From there they get real about emotional dysregulation and rejection sensitivity, including why the most expensive mistakes can happen when we try to fix a problem while dysregulated. The goal isn’t to avoid big feelings. It’s to create a small pause between the big feeling and our response to make room for tools like breathing, grounding, and even prayer. 

They also cover sensory sensitivities, misophonia, and how the environment can overload attention for both adults and kids; and then wrap up with disorganization and the power of simple home systems that reduce clutter and decision fatigue. Finally, they address the myth “everyone’s a little ADHD” and explain what it gets wrong. If you want language, validation, and strategies you can use today, press play. Then subscribe, share with a fellow ADHD parent, and leave a quick review so more families can find the show.
Find more from Dr. Kelly at DrKellyCagle.com

ABOUT US:
The Brainy Moms is a parenting podcast hosted by cognitive psychologist Dr. Amy Moore and Sandy Zamalis. Dr. Amy and Sandy have conversations with experts in parenting, child development, education, homeschooling, psychology, mental health, and neuroscience. Listeners leave with tips and advice for helping parents and kids thrive. If you love us, add us to your playlist and follow us on social media! 
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: www.TheBrainyMoms.com
Email: BrainyMoms@gmail.com
Social Media: @TheBrainyMoms
Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter
Visit our sponsor's website: www.LearningRx.com
Get Dr. Amy's book, Hearts on ADHD Parenting: Brain-based, Grace-filled Strategies for Raising Kids with Big Emotions and Challenging Behaviors, at all major booksellers or here: https://a.co/d/01IkKZEN and find her at www.AmyMoorePhD.com

School refusal can show up as a slammed laptop, a child who won’t enter the building, or a full-body meltdown at the kitchen table. What if we treat that moment like a clue, not a verdict? That shift could change everything, especially for ADHD and other neurodivergent learners who hit fight, flight, or freeze faster under stress.

On this episode of The Brainy Moms Podcast, Dr. Amy and Sandy talk with returning guest expert Sarah Collins, a pediatric occupational therapist, host of The OT Is In podcast, and founder of Homeschool OT. Together, they unpack reasons kids refuse schoolwork across settings: homeschool, co-ops, microschools, private school, and traditional classrooms. They walk through the “person, environment, and occupation” lens and get specific about what’s often missed, like motor demands in handwriting, visual tracking and eye teaming issues, sensory discomfort, and the core stability needed just to sit and work. They also dig into social demands that don’t look “social” at first, like answering comprehension questions on cue, self-advocacy, and the fear of failing in front of peers.

They also talk cognitive load and skill gaps, including missing prerequisites in math, weak automaticity in handwriting or typing, and why “they can do it at school” doesn’t always mean they can do it at home without paying a huge emotional price. They cover restraint collapse, ADHD motivation traps where sticker charts fall flat, and what helps more: accurate praise, noticing tiny wins, and asking questions that guide reflection without triggering rejection sensitivity.

If you’re stuck in the refusal cycle, press play for a calmer, more practical path forward. Subscribe, share this with a parent who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find this support.
Find Sarah Collins at www.HomeschoolOT.com
ABOUT US:
The Brainy Moms is a parenting podcast hosted by cognitive psychologist Dr. Amy Moore and Sandy Zamalis. Dr. Amy and Sandy have conversations with experts in parenting, child development, education, homeschooling, psychology, mental health, and neuroscience. Listeners leave with tips and advice for helping parents and kids thrive. If you love us, add us to your playlist and follow us on social media! 
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: www.TheBrainyMoms.com
Email: BrainyMoms@gmail.com
Social Media: @TheBrainyMoms
Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter
Visit our sponsor's website: www.LearningRx.com
Get Dr. Amy's book, Hearts on ADHD Parenting: Brain-based, Grace-filled Strategies for Raising Kids with Big Emotions and Challenging Behaviors, at all major booksellers or here: https://a.co/d/01IkKZEN and find her at www.AmyMoorePhD.com

If you have ever wondered whether your child’s ADHD is the whole story or whether autism is also part of the picture, this conversation is for you. On this episode of The Brainy Moms Podcast, Dr. Amy and Sandy talk with AuDHD expert Dr. Noreen Russell, founder of Russell Coaching for Students and host of ADHD, Autism and Anxiety: Breaking Out of the Box, to unpack the growing term “AuDHD” and what ADHD and autism overlap looks like in real homes, real schools, and real nervous systems.

We dig into why “ADHD plus autism” is not just double the challenge, but often a push pull experience that can feel exponentially harder. In fact, it's more like "ADHD times autism." Dr. Russell shares an unforgettable metaphor: ADHD can look like a foot on the gas, autism like a foot on the brake, and AuDHD can feel like living in constant tension between the two. We talk sensory processing issues, rigidity and sameness, meltdowns versus shutdowns, and the day-to-day moments that confuse parents most, like wanting constant movement while needing everything done in a very specific way.

We also get practical about parenting strategies that actually fit this neurodivergent profile: when accommodation is the kind choice, how to watch for developmental readiness before pushing flexibility, and how to practice skills in low pressure moments so you are not “poking the bear” during high stress transitions. Finally, we cover why a comprehensive assessment can be worth it when questions linger, what signs suggest autism alongside ADHD, and why support for parents is not optional, it is essential.

Subscribe for more brain-based parenting conversations, share this with a friend who needs language for what they are seeing, and leave a review so more families can find these tools.
ABOUT US:
The Brainy Moms is a parenting podcast hosted by cognitive psychologist Dr. Amy Moore and Sandy Zamalis. Dr. Amy and Sandy have conversations with experts in parenting, child development, education, homeschooling, psychology, mental health, and neuroscience. Listeners leave with tips and advice for helping parents and kids thrive. If you love us, add us to your playlist and follow us on social media! 
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: www.TheBrainyMoms.com
Email: BrainyMoms@gmail.com
Social Media: @TheBrainyMoms
Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter
Visit our sponsor's website: www.LearningRx.com
Get Dr. Amy's book, Hearts on ADHD Parenting: Brain-based, Grace-filled Strategies for Raising Kids with Big Emotions and Challenging Behaviors, at all major booksellers or here: https://a.co/d/01IkKZEN and find her at www.AmyMoorePhD.com

Are you parenting ADHD kids and wondering how to filter through all the ADHD advice out there? Absorbing information online during ADHD Awareness Month can feel like drinking from a firehose. Everyone has a tip, a reel, and a strong opinion leaving parents asking a real question: who should we trust and what actually helps a child with ADHD in daily life? 
On this episode of The Brainy Moms Podcast, we celebrate the launch of Dr. Amy's new book, Hearts on ADHD Parenting: Brain-based, Grace-filled Strategies for Raising Kids with Big Emotions and Challenging Behaviors. 
Cognitive Psychologist Dr. Amy Moore describes how her book is a little different than most ADHD parenting guides: it comes from decades in the trenches with neurodivergent kids and their families, her counseling and research experience, her faith-informed lens of grace, and her lived experience as an ADHD mom and a mom with ADHD. (Plus her husband adds humourous but vulnerable commentary throughout the book.) The core reframe is simple but hard: ADHD parenting is not about “fixing” our chid's behavior. It's about reading behavior as communication, looking for unmet needs, and building our own emotion regulation so we can access grace and lead with curiosity and flexibility.

Because it's ADHD Awareness Month, Dr. Amy and Sandy have some fun with a rapid-fire myth game that tackles what parents hear every day: “ADHD isn’t real,” “it’s just a focus problem,” “video games prove they don’t have ADHD,” “kids outgrow it,” “smart kids can’t have it,” “everyone’s a little ADHD,” and “ADHD is a superpower.” We dig into hyperfocus, time blindness, co-occurring anxiety or autism, and why structure, routines, timers, movement, and outside reminders can be game-changing supports. We also talk ADHD nutrition and brain health, including omega-3 fatty acids, artificial food dyes, sugar, pesticides, and why exercise and even martial arts can support executive function.

If you want solid advice from a true ADHD expert with clearer next steps, hit play. Subscribe, share this with an ADHD parent who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find the show.
Find Dr. Amy's book, Hearts on ADHD Parenting: Brain-based, Grace-filled Strategies for Raising Kids with Big Emotions and Challenging Behaviors, at all major booksellers or here: https://a.co/d/01IkKZEN
ABOUT US:
The Brainy Moms is a parenting podcast hosted by cognitive psychologist Dr. Amy Moore and Sandy Zamalis. Dr. Amy and Sandy have conversations with experts in parenting, child development, education, homeschooling, psychology, mental health, and neuroscience. Listeners leave with tips and advice for helping parents and kids thrive. If you love us, add us to your playlist and follow us on social media! 
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: www.TheBrainyMoms.com
Email: BrainyMoms@gmail.com
Social Media: @TheBrainyMoms
Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter
Visit our sponsor's website: www.LearningRx.com
Get Dr. Amy's book, Hearts on ADHD Parenting: Brain-based, Grace-filled Strategies for Raising Kids with Big Emotions and Challenging Behaviors, at all major booksellers or here: https://a.co/d/01IkKZEN and find her at www.AmyMoorePhD.com

Most families think of “art” as an elective, but our kids are being shaped by aesthetics all day long. Clothing, movies, book covers, music, room design, even the way a table is set can train what we value without us noticing. That’s why this conversation with Christian artist and educator Ryan Lauterio lands like a wake-up call: creativity is not reserved for a small group of gifted kids. It’s part of what it means to be human and part of what it means to disciple our children with intention.

As the founder of Made Makers Christian Art and Design Education, Ryan connects art education with theology and a Christian worldview, showing how images and stories can bypass mere logic and go straight to the heart. During this episode, Dr. Amy and Sandy talk with Ryan about how culture is formed upstream by makers, why the church often treats artists as fringe, and how that leaves families unprepared for what media normalizes over time. Along the way, we explore gratitude for the “made-ness” of life and why treating creativity as a shared human calling changes the tone of homeschool, parenting, and learning. 

Then we get very practical. Ryan gives a simple set of questions you can use with any object, image, or piece of media: What is it? What is it for? What does it do? We also dig into perfectionism, learning through practice, and why making things with our hands builds the kind of embodied problem-solving our kids will need in an AI-heavy future. If you want your children to become wise, thoughtful makers who can discern what they’re consuming and contribute beauty and truth back into the world, this theology-heavy conversation is a place to start. 

Subscribe, share this with a homeschool friend, and leave a review so more families can find the show. What’s one creative habit you want to build into your home this week?
ABOUT US:
The Brainy Moms is a parenting podcast hosted by cognitive psychologist Dr. Amy Moore and Sandy Zamalis. Dr. Amy and Sandy have conversations with experts in parenting, child development, education, homeschooling, psychology, mental health, and neuroscience. Listeners leave with tips and advice for helping parents and kids thrive. If you love us, add us to your playlist and follow us on social media! 
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: www.TheBrainyMoms.com
Email: BrainyMoms@gmail.com
Social Media: @TheBrainyMoms
Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter
Visit our sponsor's website: www.LearningRx.com
Get Dr. Amy's book, Hearts on ADHD Parenting: Brain-based, Grace-filled Strategies for Raising Kids with Big Emotions and Challenging Behaviors, at all major booksellers or here: https://a.co/d/01IkKZEN and find her at www.AmyMoorePhD.com